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Friday, August 5, 2011

Running in Stockholm

We left Odenplan and after a couple of blocks turned left into Haga Park, where Gustav III used to have his summer residence A trail around a lake in the park was simply irresistible. Running trails in the Stockholm! How cool is this!? I lost concept of time. Exiting the park we turned right into Sveavagen street heading to Gamla Stan, the old town. Annika and Caren were leading our small group at a blazing pace that somehow felt very comfortable. We passed Riksdagshuset, the Parliament, Kungliga Slottet, the Royal Palace, Operan, National Museum, Dramatiska Teatern, and were running on Strandvagen street toward Djurgarden island that attracts millions of visitors every year with its Nordiska and Vasa museums, as well as a theme park, and Royal summer residences. The island is also a popular destination for runners who can enjoy soft gravel path along the island's shoreline.

It was an early morning, but many tourists were already lining up to get on board of one of the tour boats docked along the canal. "Dream city for running", I thought, with so many parks and paths for runners, walkers and bikers. Running today seemed unusually effortless, but something was a little bit odd. Why was I the only guy in our group? And running barefoot in plaid Levi shorts and orange polo shirt? "Well, I'm on vacation", I thought as we were passing by an old church. A distant sound of its bells grew louder, and louder, and louder, and ... I woke up. The alarm clock was displaying a blinking 6:00 AM. Time to get ready for my first run in Stockholm. A beautiful city that is both old and modern. A city that is very friendly and even on the first day of our visit seemed strangely familiar.

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About Me

Running on Sunday morning has been a part of my weekly routine since 1997 when two of my friends and I went for a run (walk) around the Stanley Park in Vancouver on a cold, rainy day in October. Came home exhausted, soaked, starving, but somewhat happy. I was hooked. My first two full-marathons in 2003 and 2005 didn't go well. I have followed a more rigorous training program since and did much better finishing Vancouver and Portland in 2009, Boston and Chicago in 2010, Eugene and New York in 2011, Berlin in 2012, Ottawa and Toronto in 2013, Ottawa and Washington in 2014. My favorite run is a 5K "commute-to-work" run along the canal here in Ottawa . Hope some of my posts on this blog will help other runners stay injury free, train better and run faster.
Run Strong!
Jacek Gorwa, RPB Editor